Duquesne bows out of Atlantic 10 tournament

Getty Images - Duquesne's Ovie Soko is guarded by Richmond's Terry Allen during the first half of an Atlantic 10 Tournament second-round game Thursday, March 13, 2014, in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond's Terry Allen drives to the basket against Duquesne's Ovie Soko in the first half during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond coach Chris Mooney looks on from the bench in the first half against Duquesne during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond's Trey Davis handles the ball in the first half against Duquesne during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Duquesne coach Jim Ferry looks on from the bench in the first half against Richmond during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond's Trey Davis looks to pass in the first half against Duquesne during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond's Kendall Anthony brings the ball upcourt in the first half against Duquesne during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond's Wayne Sparrow drives to the basket against Duquesne's Dominique McKoy in the first half during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond's Trey Davis passes the ball upcourt in the first half against Duquesne's Ovie Soko during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

Getty Images - Richmond's Terry Allen drives to the basket against Duquesne's Dominique McKoy in the first half during the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at Barclays Center in New York.

TribLIVE Sports Videos

NEW YORK — Ovie Soko and Micah Mason were unable to generate much offensively at times, and when Duquesne's top scoring options were neutralized, that meant serious trouble.

And considering the time of year, that meant that the season was over for the Dukes, whose first appearance in the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Brooklyn's Barclays Center ended with a 76-64 loss to Richmond on Thursday night.

Soko, who led the Atlantic 10 in scoring and was named to the conference's third team, finished his college career with 23 points, but most of it came too late as he started 2 of 7 and shot 10 of 21 for the game.

Late in the game, the UAB transfer exited to applause from the Duquesne fans and exchanged a hug with coach Jim Ferry.

“It's just been a good experience, just growing and being a leader on the team and leading a bunch of younger guys,” Soko said. “I've grown tremendously, and tonight we just came up short.”

Mason, the Highlands grad who led the nation by shooting 57 percent from 3-point range, picked up two quick fouls and was held scoreless while taking three shots.

“They switch at every position,” Ferry said. “They switch on every exchange, and they really switched out deep on him, so they didn't really give him any comfort, any looks at the basket. We tried to get him to be aggressive. We tried to get him to drive and kick. You talk about guys screening and roll, but you've really got to credit them defensively for locking in on him.”

Duquesne struggled most of the night and turned in a second half that resembled their 75-58 loss to Richmond a month ago.

The Dukes spent most of the game shooting under 40 percent and only a late surge allowed them finish at 42.2 percent.

They gave up the first nine points of the second half, extending a six-point halftime deficit to 15.

Duquesne were unable to stop Terry Allen, who led Richmond with a career-high 27 points.

The loss also spoiled the homecoming for Ferry, who spent 10 seasons at nearby Long Island University and coached that school to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances before taking over the Dukes.

“It stinks right now,” Ferry said. “Barclays has been great to us, and it's been great to practice at LIU every day. I'll always be a part of that family. It was great to see everybody, but I wish we could have stayed here a little bit longer.”

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Print Source

Welcome to PrintSource, a division of Trib Total Media.

We have established a veteran team that provides daily and weekly newspaper companies with a comprehensive set of services that include design, print, packaging and delivery of their products, all from one source and location.

Gone are the days when each facet of newspaper printing and delivery had to be outsourced to different companies and venues. Now, PrintSource provides a viable solution with just one phone call.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.